The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
GREENS: ‘LNG WILL NOT BE DEVELOPED’
ANTI-LNG campaigners are calling on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to clarify comments he made to the effect that the company can ‘still build it if they want to’. The Taoiseach’s comments came in a briefing with party members on the Programme for Government (PfG) in the aftermath of last week’s agreement.
The comments were echoed this week by Minister for Sport and Tourism Brendan Griffin, who told The Kerryman that he still has hopes for the project – though he intends to vote for the document most believe will put the complete kybosh on the plan.
“I believe there is still hope for it. I am seeking advice and researching the legal complexities of it . I believe the project could still go ahead,” Minister Griffin told The Kerryman.
But Limerick Green Party TD Brian Leddin, a key negotiator of the programme for his party, was unequivocal, telling The Kerryman this week that there is no way the plant could be developed if the programme is ratified by Friday.
The Taoiseach told party colleagues in the briefing that the agreement solely amounted to the removal of Shannon LNG ‘from what’s called the PCI list, so it’s not something that will receive government subsidies anymore.’
“That doesn’t mean it’s removed from An Bord Pleanála. This is a private company and they can still go to An Bord Pleanála, still potentially get planning permission for it and still build it if they want to. But it’s just that it won’t be a Government-supported project anymore, we will be supporting something different, something better.”
Minister Griffin said the PfG ‘can’t stop it’. “The Government doesn’t agree it is a good idea... This can’t stop it.”. He said the removal of the project from the EU PCI list wouldn’t affect the planning application. He added that there could also be other reasons that such a project might not make it through the planning process, not just fracked gas versus non-fracked gas: “It wouldn’t fall in planning purely for what is here [in the Government programme] There are other factors that could halt it. I do not see it as the death knell for the project but it puts a limit on what can be done.”
Green Party TD Brian Leddin told The Kerryman that the removal of Government support for the project is tantamount to its termination, with no basis in State policy to legitimise any future planning application.
“The legal and political hurdles created by the programme for Government basically mean the project won’t go ahead. Removing it from the PCI list is critical because that streamlines the planning process and access to finance, with the plan to remove it from the list by October 2021. I really don’t see how this could go ahead now,” Deputy Leddin said.
However, he said the PfG offers ‘strong commitment’ to the future development of the region: “What I would say in the medium to longer term, there is quite a brighter future for Kerry, North Kerry and the Shannon Esutary because a lot of the ambition in the PfG is about opening up our renewable resources along the west coast.”